A POLICEWOMAN has been found not guilty of covering up for a fellow officer after pulling him over for drink-driving.

PC Jennifer Adderley, who is from Sandiway, had been charged with perverting the course of justice and with misconduct in a public office.

Prosecutors claimed at Chester Crown Court that the 33-year-old, who handles dogs for Cheshire Constabulary, stopped DC Dave Hall after a member of the public reported him for drink-driving.

The Crown alleged Hall, also 33, had been seen leaving a bar in Macclesfield in the early hours of October 27, 2002, and driving away while drunk.

Hall was also found not guilty of perverting the course of justice.

After the jury delivered its verdict, there was a cheer from the public gallery.

The prosecution alleged Adderley stopped Hall, realised he was a detective and refused to give him a breath-test. It claimed she then pressurised two trainee officers at the scene to lie about the incident.

The two inexperienced officers told the court they were told to pretend Hall was ill.

It was claimed that the alleged cover-up came to light when one of the young officers, PC Michelle Armitt, had a crisis of conscience.

She told officers she had covered for Hall because she did not have the confidence to stand up to Adderley. PC Armitt claimed she arrived at the scene, along with PC Daniel Gorman, a few minutes after Adderley.

According to PC Armitt, Adderley said: 'He is drunk, but I am not going to breathalyse him.'

PC Gorman told the court that a couple of days later, Adderley told him: 'You are to say Dave Hall was ill, so ill he could not drive.'

After more than three hours of deliberation, the jury decided Adderley and Hall were telling the truth.

Adderley said she did not give Hall a breath-test because he did not appear drunk. She added: 'When I spoke to him, he said that he was ill and that he felt dizzy and nauseous.'

A spokesman for Cheshire Constabulary said the two officers would remain suspended until an internal inquiry had been carried out.